Dive Brief:
- A Louisiana contractor won a unanimous jury decision in a $20 million lawsuit against the state’s Department of Transportation and Development over his refusal to pay a bribe to a state official, which, he said, resulted in the loss of his business, the News-Star reported.
- The suit, originally filed in 2007, alleged that DOTD inspector Willie Jenkins told Mercer, "If you want this job to go better, it’s going to take some green." Jenkins subsequently demanded a generator as a bribe as well. Mercer’s suit alleges that he reported the bribe attempt to a DOTD official, and the agency removed Jenkins but then engaged in a campaign of malicious behavior against Mercer, including nonpayment for multiple projects and false criminal charges to the FBI.
- Mercer’s original suit was for $20 million, which his attorney, David Doughty, said represents Mercer’s lost future income calculated in accordance with what his company was making at the time of the attempted bribe. When taking into consideration interest over the eight years since the suit was filed, the award amount of $20 million will increase by millions. Mercer also has two separate suits for more than $10 million in contractual losses pending.
Dive Insight:
Mercer’s company was also a disadvantaged business enterprise. "He was crying out for help on these jobs, asking 'who protects the DBE from the DOTD?'," Doughty said. "The people who are actually supposed to guard the DBE companies are within the DOTD itself. ... He didn't get any help from them."
Public agencies ripe for corruption are not limited to Louisiana, though, according to the Center for Public Integrity. The center grades states on their government’s accountability and transparency, and 11 states, including Louisiana, scored an F. The real story, however, is that no state scored above a C, and only three managed that grade. In August 2014, the Louisiana Legislative Auditor established a fraud telephone hotline for anyone who suspects "misappropriation (theft), fraud, waste, or abuse of public funds by anyone."
The construction industry is ranked second across all sectors for cases of fraudulent activity. Recently, the city of New York, established an anti-fraud taskforce in response to the additional criminal behavior that came with the building boom. The uptick in construction law-breaking runs the gamut from OSHA violations to bribes involving both public and private projects.